Trucks and other large vehicles have a number of wheels, typically eighteen, mounted on two or more axles. Heavy use and poor maintenance contribute to bearing failure and sheared lug nuts. In either case, a wheel may break free while the truck is in motion launching the wheel into oncoming traffic posing a severe threat to other drivers on the road. In Ontario, Canada, several highway deaths have been directly caused by a head-on collision with a runaway truck wheel.
Several devices exist that lock a wheel to a hub. to the hub. Examples of such prior art devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,797 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,285.